ForgetMeNot
by LoZeldafreak
Summary: This could possibly be a sequal, but then again it's probaly not. Roy and Elli are planning on getting married in a less than a week, but a lot can happen in a couple of days!Better than it sounds.R&R before i finish this story and you never see it again.
1. Chapter 1

This is the sequel to _Together Under the Moonlight_. I suggest you read that first before this one. It might make more sense that way. Actually, I would really prefer it if you read that one too, because I only have two reviews on it. sniff sniff. Anyways, enjoy!

Summer 21st

_I love the rocking motion of a boat. It's like a cradle rocking you to sleep. However, tonight the soothing motion failed to make me shut my eyes as I am lying awake in bed next to my slumbering fiancée at 3am. Not only am I excited of the thought of finally getting married after almost two seasons of being engaged, but Roy happens to have a serious snoring problem. Not even sleeping beauty could have made it through one night next to him._

Elli paused from her journal and looked down at her soon-to-be husband. He looked gorgeous right now, besides the small trail of drool coming from his gaping mouth. She leaned over to the bedside table and grabbed her hanky. She then wiped away the saliva gathering by Roy's mouth and gently closed his jaw. Much better. Elli returned to her journal and continued to write.

_Our engagement wasn't supposed to be so long, but Roy was a little short on cash. He had made a little over a thousand gold pieces when he proposed to me, most of which he used on a blue feather for me. I told him again and again that I didn't need one, but he insisted. He told me that his mother's most valuable possession was the blue feather that his father had given her, and that if he didn't get one for me, we would be missing out. __Whatever._

_But it is funny how these things work out. Our engagement was so long, that by this time, my cousin Celia and my ex-fiancée, Doctor, had fallen in love and decided to get married. I think they will be a perfect match as Celia can be quite dry herself. But she tells me that she enjoys herself so much when she is with him. Anyways, now that Roy has made enough money to support us, we are getting married in a week. Not only that, but we are having a double wedding with Celia and Doctor in Forget-me-not Valley, which is where we are traveling to on this boat. I am so excited!_

Elli closed her diary and set on the bedside table. Roy had finally stopped snoring and Elli sighed in relief. The most wonderful part about getting married was that soon he would belong to her, and she would to him. Her mind then drifted away to one of her favorite memories. It was some time in spring in the middle of the day when Roy was working hard on his crops. Elli had hidden behind a tree and waited for him to pass by. At just the right moment, when Roy was a little to the left of the tree, Elli jumped on top of him and pinned him to the ground. Her unsuspecting victim cried out on the impact, and fell onto his back with Elli sitting on top of him. "Surprise," she laughed.

Elli had leaned down and kissed him on the lips and then sat up and laughed along with her fiancée. It was at this exact moment that the mayor had walked in on the two of them, Roy lying on the ground and Elli on top of him. The mayor gave an awkward look and told them that he would come back at a more convenient time. The couple had laughed continuously at this and still did when the memory came back to their mind.

By now Elli was almost asleep. She sluggishly turned of the lamp and fell into a deep slumber.

Roy and Elli arrived in Forget-me-not Valley a little before noon. The boat pulled up into the sand on the beach and halted gradually. Both passengers on the boat were very eager to get out and wanted to jump off the boat instead of waiting for it to stop and lower a ladder. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, the two stepped onto the beach and ran to greet the crowd of people waiting for them.

A rather large woman came forward and wrapped her arms around the two of them, their heads pushed against her chest. "Um, who are you?" Roy asked with his words slightly muffled.

"I'm Vesta, Celia's mother. Now how are you folks doing back Mineral Town, eh?" Her voice was loud but friendly.

"Where fine," Roy answered when his head was finally released. He still seemed rather uncomfortable with someone with such a rambunctious character. He straightened his hair and a girl with dark brown hair topped with a bright orange bandana came through the crowd. Since she looked somewhat like Elli except with longer hair, Roy recognized her as Celia.

"Elli!" Celia stepped forward and the two cousins embraced. "Are you as excited as I am?"

"Of course! I am glad we decided to come early so we could spend sometime with you and Doctor."

"Me too! Come with me and I will show you were you will be staying."

Celia led the couple to the Inner Inn where they would be staying. The lobby was small and dusty, with Asian décor against the walls. There was a wooden desk at the back of the room with a telephone and other common office supplies on it. There was one entry way which led into the kitchen and another that was locked. Roy and Elli were greeted by the son of Tim and Ruby, Rock, who also worked at the inn. Rock was about 16 and had an enthusiastic personality that seemed rather false, as if he had done the whole welcome routine so many times, that his face was plastered in a smile.

Roy and Elli made their way up the stairs, Elli running and her fiancée dragging behind with the luggage. Elli stopped at the top of the stairs to wait for him, her elbow resting against the banister. She turned her head to see a girl around her age with shockingly red hair come out of the room across from theirs. Elli greeted her with a friendly hello, only to receive a slight acknowledgment from the girl.

"How rude!" Elli thought to herself. "And what about that outfit? That vest with those shorts? I don't think so." Elli played absentmindedly with her hair and felt that one of her earrings had fallen out. She bent down on her hands and knees to search for her missing jewelry, when Roy finally reached the top of the stairs. Unfortunately, Elli hadn't noticed him come up and she was still bent down, and Roy could not see her with all the luggage he was carrying and he tripped over her and fell all the way back down, five suitcases and all.

Roy shouted as he fell and grunted in fatigue as he reached the bottom of the stairs. "Hooray! I found my earring. What is taking you Ro-"she was in mid sentence when she realized what had happened. She ran down the stairs and rushed to her aching love, who was still lying on the ground in exhaustion. She sat down and caressed his head in her arms, wiping away dirt from his face. "I sorry!" she almost gasped.

"Well at least you found your earring," Roy replied with a smile to assure her that it was alright. As he slowly got up, Rock stepped and said "Uh, we have a cart for luggage."

"_Now_ you tell me."

With the help of the cart that Rock had offered, Elli and Roy made it up the stairs and into their room. Inside was one large wooden bed, a dresser, a closet, and even more Asian décor. A sliding glass door led out to the patio, which had a good view of the town.

Rock handed Roy some extra towels and left the room. The exhausted farmer tossed the towels carelessly aside and collapsed on the bed. "Just leave me here Elli, I can't move." This was 50 because he was tired from the trip and 50 because falling down stairs can really take a lot out of someone and 50 because he was being a drama-queen. You do the math.

"Well, if you're going to take a nap, I am leaving. You happen to have a serious snoring problem," she complained.

"I do not, you liar!" Roy protested.

"You so do have a snoring problem. It kept we awake all night." She laughed.

Roy returned her criticism with a toss of a pillow. "Hey!" She threw it back at him, narrowly missing his head. After adjusting his blue baseball cap, Roy grabbed another pillow off the bed and continued the fight. Elli, sensing a pillow fight coming on, ran to the bed and used the pillow that was chucked at her to whack the head of her laughing fiancée side to side.

The two began wrestling and Elli ended up on top of Roy. It was at this moment when Rock opened the door with a large mound of cheese (for emergencies), and stuck his head inside the room. He looked up at the scene, Elli with a pillow in her hand and Roy underneath her and feathers everywhere slowly floating to the ground. The two sat still in silence, or in Roy's case laid uncomfortably under Elli, staring with wide eyes at Rock until he slowly set down their emergency cheese and left the room, shutting the door behind him.

After the sudden shock had passed away, they resumed their fight.

I hope you enjoyed it so far! Please R&R if you liked it or have constructive criticism. Thanks!

By the way, the whole 50 thing was on purpose, I understand that three 50's make 150. I was just fooling around.


	2. Chapter 2

"Roy, WAKE UP!" Ellie shook her slumbering fiancée vigorously. Roy lifted on lazy eyelid and gave her an unintelligent look with his tongue slightly sticking out. He buried his face back in his pillow and pulled the covers over him.

Due to the pillow on top of him, through a muffled voice he said, "Go. Away."

"Are you ready for another fun filled day?" Ellie said energetically.

"You sound like my old camp counselor, Mrs. Winkler," he said into his pillow.

"Do I look like Mrs. Winkler?" Ellie whimpered with a joking voice.

Roy raised his pillow and peeked out from underneath to look at his soon to be wife. She was wearing lacy pajamas that fitted rather tightly. Her hair was down and fairly messy, but she still looked like a Victoria's Secret model.

"No." There was a pause. "She was hotter." Roy received a whack from a pillow. "Kidding. Just kidding." He said hurriedly.

The couple hurried to get dressed, Roy in his overalls and white t-shirt and Elli in her blue and white board shorts and tank top, and headed down stairs for breakfast. Ruby greeted them downstairs and told them they had a message from Celia. "She wants to meet you at the beach around ten, if Roy is up. Bring your swimsuits and towels, she said," Ruby told them.

"What time is it now?" Elli asked looking for a clock.

"About 9:50," Ruby answered.

Elli gasped. "We only have ten minutes to get dressed! Come on, Roy." Elli grabbed Roy by his bandanna and dragged him up the stairs.

Once upstairs, Elli began to rummage through the suitcases to find their bathing suits, while Roy sat on the bed and played his Game Boy. "Little help, please." Elli said sarcastically.

"But I am about to beat Bowser!" Roy complained as he dodged a scuba mask that had been flung in his direction.

With sudden interest Elli perked her head up from the suitcase. "Is that Mario?" Elli stopped herself from getting up. "No, Elli, you have to focus," she told herself. She threw his 'please feed the cow' bathing trunks at him. "Well I am going to change into my suit. I personally don't want to be late."

Without looking up from his Game Boy, Roy asked, "Could you wear the green bikini?" Elli just rolled her eyes and went into the bathroom to change. Roy paused from his game and changed into his swim suit. He was about to put his shirt back on when the bathroom door slammed open.

"Don't even think about it!" Elli cried coming out in her one piece bathing suit. "I've waited too long for this moment. You are not going to wear that shirt." Elli said forcefully.

He turned the other way. "Make me," he said smiling slightly. Elli ran to the bed, grabbed the shirt and held it up and away from Roy. Roy reached up to grab it but Elli was too quick. And of course, they soon began wrestling with each other over the shirt. They were on the floor, both struggling, when Roy decided to make a deal. "I will go if you wear the green bikini that I enjoy so much."

"Deal." Elli ran back to the bathroom and changed into her green swimsuit. "What do you think?" she asked as she stepped out of the door. Roy simply got an excited look in his eyes, ran to her and kissed her on the lips. It looked that good on her.

When they finally made it, they were 15 minutes late. Elli apologized to Celia, trying to describe why they were late without mentioning wrestling over a shirt. Roy simply said to Doctor "Come on Hillary, let's get wet!"

"I really don't –" but before he could finish, Celia pushed him into the crystal clear ocean. When Elli refused Roy's invitation to join them in the water, he decided to be a little more direct. He picked up a screaming Elli and carried her into the ocean until it went past his knees. With a triumphant grin, he dropped her in. Elli came out of the water drenched and with a face that no one would want to cross. She grabbed his hat, which he _always _wore, filled it with water and dumped it back on his head. Doctor watched the couple laugh a safe distance away.

After everyone had got a sufficient amount of water, they decided to retreat to the beach to eat lunch. Celia had made sandwiches for everyone (PB&J with Wonder Bread for Roy) and some fresh watermelon from her farm.

The two couples talked as they ate. "So what are you studying with Dr. Hardy, Hillary?" Elli asked. After Elli rejected to marry him, Doctor had traveled to Forget-Me-Not Valley to work with the famous Dr. Hardy.

"Oh, well, I learned many things, but now Celia and I are going to start a business growing and selling medicinal plants," Doctor replied. He and Celia gave each other loving looks.

"_Okay_…" Roy said. He and Ellie exchanged glances.

For the rest of the day, Celia showed the couple around town and introduced them to the rest of the town. On the way back to the Inn, Elli saw the red haired girl that she had "met" when she first arrived. "Celia, who is that girl over there?" she asked.

"Oh, well, that's Nami. She's not all that sociable. I think she's staying at the same inn as you."

"Nami, eh. That's a terrible name."

"Oh, don't be such a poo. Nami, get over here and meet my cousin and her fiancée!" Celia looked over at Roy who had resumed to his Game Boy.

Nami came over and looked at Roy. "Is that Mario?" she asked.

"Nami, this is Roy and Elli. They're staying here to get married along with me and Doctor.

"Congratulations," Nami said sounding bored and not interested.

"So, Roy where are you in Mario?" She obviously found more interest in Roy's Game Boy. She walked forward to look over Roy's shoulder when Elli blocked her way.

"Me and _my _fiancée were just leaving, right Roy?"

"Yeah, whatever," he answered absentmindedly. Before they could start an argument, Celia hurried the couple along to the inn.

That's it so far, but more will be coming soon!


	3. Chapter 3

It was getting late and the two couples soon parted and Roy and Elli made their way to the inn. They walked in silence for some time, breathing in the warm summer air. Elli was the first to speak. "I now understand why this place is called Forget-me-not Valley!" Roy looked at her with an inquiring look. She pointed to the one of the large fields of forget-me-nots swaying in the wind.

After a pause, Roy grabbed her hand with a smile and they ran to the field Elli had pointed to. They fell to the ground laughing with flowers flying everywhere. After their laughter had died down, they looked up at each other, gazing into each other's eyes. Roy leaned in closer, ready to plant a kiss on his lady and expecting her to except, but instead she suddenly held up a flower offering it to him.

"Here you go." Roy pulled his head back in surprise and gave a confused look. "If you ever go away, you can just look at one of these flowers and think of me. They represent faithfulness and friendship," she said matter-of-factly.

"How could I ever not think of you?"

She smiled and they embraced. They held each other for along time, until Roy gently lifted her head and they kissed.

"I love you Elli, and I always will. When you see this flower, think of that."

Short and pointless, I know. Well, when I thought of it, it seemed really sweet. Plus, I couldn't go around calling the story Forget-me-not if it has nothing to do with the story! I will write more, and add some drama, trust me! As always, please R&R.

Btw, I looked up forget me not in the dictionary, and that is what they actually mean.


	4. Chapter 4

Roy and Elli returned shortly to the inn as it was getting late. They entered the lobby to find Rock working at the front desk. He looked up and greeted Roy, but when he saw Elli he gave a cry and ran upstairs. "What's his problem?" Elli wondered aloud. Ruby came out of the kitchen and into the lobby and apologized for his behavior.

"I am sorry. Rock can be a bit skittish around girls. Especially you Elli. I don't have the faintest idea why."

"I bet he just isn't used to having beautiful women around," Elli replied flipping her hair.

"Oh, by the way you have a letter, Elli. I am sorry I couldn't read who it was from, but the hand writing was too messy. Maybe you can read it." Ruby handed her the letter. Elli opened it and smiled at the familiar writing. She folded it again and ran upstairs to the room, leaving Roy sitting in the lobby, still absorbed with his Game Boy.

Elli reached her room and sat on the bed and began to read the letter from her little brother, Stu. The writing was almost illegible, but Elli was used to it.

_Dear Elli,_

_I am so worried about Grandma, she is really sick. The mayor thinks that you should come back and help take care of her. Grandma says that Doctor should come too, but like you always say, he is dry as toast._

The door opened and Elli looked up from her letter. It was Roy who hadn't noticed she had gone up to the room five minutes ago. He sat down on the bed next to her and looked over her shoulder. The misspelled words and messy handwriting told Roy who it was from. "How the heck can you read that? His C's all look R's and everything is all smudged like he had a runny nose or something."

"When you have lived with him for eight years, you get used to it." Elli continued the letter out loud so Roy could understand.

_We really need you to come back right now, so step on it. By the way, I caught some bugs for you. One stopped moving though._

_Love, Stu _

Elli suddenly looked very serious and slightly frightened. "I'd better go. I guess I'll have to tell Doctor to come too." Elli got up and started to find her belongings.

"Wait, you can't just go now! We're getting married in less than a week!"

"Roy, this is serious. My Grandma needs me and so does Stu."

"Then I should go with you."

"No. You can't."

"Well, why the heck not?"

"Because, because," Elli stammered. "Because my grandma hates you! She doesn't even know I am marrying you! I can't let her see you with me, at least not now while she is so ill."

Roy seemed offended and a little hurt. "You didn't even tell your own grandma that we are getting married? Elli, that is kind of wrong."

"She will come to the wedding, I promise. But I just think we should wait, wait until she cannot do anything about it."

"Elli, I am going with you!"

"I don't want us to be together on this trip." There was an awkward pause.

"Really?" Roy asked.

"No, I didn't mean it that way," Elli said apologetically.

"Fine, go. I understand that you don't want me to come. I wouldn't want to make you look bad in front of your relatives," Roy answered ignoring Elli. He stood up and walked towards the door.

"I will go tell Doctor," he said quietly. He left, leaving Elli all alone hoping that this was not a sign of things to come. However, she had no idea of what was to soon happen.

Roy awoke the next morning alone in his bed. He yawned sleepily and looked at the clock. It was now 6:34 and the sky was barely gray. Roy got out of bed and trudged along into the bathroom. His mouth curved downward into a slight frown, as though it was too tired to smile. He looked at his reflection in the mirror and saw a face he barely recognized. Of course, he wasn't wearing his baseball cap and his eyes were almost closed.

A quick splash of water on his face, and Roy soon regained his full vision. He wiped of his face with a wash cloth hanging on the wall. When he removed the towel from his face, he noticed a piece of paper sitting on the top of the toilet. Quickly, he stumbled over to the toilet, tripping on the cord of a hair dryer and knocking down cosmetics off of the sink. Roy just sighed and read the letter.

_By the time you get this note, I will be on the boat to Mineral Town. Doctor and I left at 4 am this morning and I didn't want to wake you. I am sorry the bathroom is such a mess; would you please clean it for me?_

_Yours Truly, Elli_

Roy's heart sank. He was hoping that she would be down at the docks, waiting for him to come and say goodbye before she could leave. The letter seemed so unlike his loving and playful Elli, it was so cold and formal, as if Doctor had written it instead.

He sat down on his bed with his head in his hands. Could she have really left without saying goodbye? He read the letter again and again. There was no trace of an "I will be missing you and I am sorry I have to go" or an "I want you to know that I love you so much, and I can't wait to see you again when I get back". Not even a _Love, Elli_ at the end of the letter. Was she upset? They had had a fight, but Roy didn't think it was that important. Maybe she is mad at him for being so rude to her the day before.

Roy collapsed on the bed. He was still tired and now hungry. Now was not the time to think about why his fiancée hated him. Roy sighed again and slowly got up to get dressed. Now clothed in his everyday work clothes he set off to try and enjoy his pre-wedding holiday without his beloved Elli.

This proved to be a rather difficult task. Roy had entered the kitchen, his stomach anticipating some of Ruby's great cooking, only to find Rock preparing to open the oven, fire extinguisher at the ready. He was wearing three oven mitts on each hand and he was having trouble grasping on to the oven door's handle as he attempted to open it to retrieve his so called "breakfast".

"Taking extra precaution I see," Roy said aloud.

Rock looked up and noticed him for the first time. "Oh hello, Roy. Ruby has gone out to do some shopping, so I am in charge of breakfast for now. I have this great recipe for scrambled eggs. I hope they turn out okay," Rock replied as though it was common for a chef to expect his meal to start a fire.

"Are eggs usually cooked in the oven?" Roy eyed the oven suspiciously.

Using both arms, Rock managed to get the oven open. Smoke filled the room. "Aaaaaaaah!" Rock yelled and immediately picked up the extinguisher and began to spray. Now the room was not only filled with smoke, but a white cloud now covered the room. Roy could barely see Rock's head in all the mess, but he managed to get close enough to him to grab the extinguisher before he could spray any more.

Eventually the smoke died down and Roy could now see Rock holding a pan and looking disappointed. The contents of the pan were burnt black and unrecognizable. Rock sighed. "Cereal it is then."

He got out a bowl of 'Organic Panda Puffs' from the cupboard and began to pour it into a bowl. On the cover was a rather dazed panda with his mouth slightly open. "Nothing like Organic Panda Puffs," Rock chimed. "Fifty percent less flavor than the leading brand." Something fell out of the box and landed into the bowl. "Oh boy, a prize! Looks like a dinosaur with its head chewed off. Neat!" he put the dinosaur in his pocket and looked in the fridge. "Hmm, looks like we are out of milk. I guess you'll have to use orange juice instead."

"Um… I think I will get a bite to eat at the Blue Bar." Roy said as he slowly backed out of the room.

"Suit yourself. More for me, I guess." He grabbed a spoon and began to dig in.

"Now that is an interesting after taste!" Roy overheard Rock comment as he left the inn.

Roy made it to the bar safely away from Rocks cooking, he settled down at a table to try and think of a way to spend the rest of his day. He had no work to do, no friends to visit, and there wasn't an arcade anywhere in this lame valley. He sighed and ordered a drink. One thing he did not want do with his life was waste it drinking, and after he finished his first drink, he left the bar in search of something to do.

He walked along the dirt road and noticed one of the many fields of forget-me-nots. He cried out in frustration. Everything reminded him of Elli.

"Can I help you?"

Roy turned to see a man about his age running a vegetable stand. He did not wear a hat, but instead had messy brown hair. He wore a white buttoned-up shirt and pants with suspenders.

"Oh, I am sorry. No it's just this one-"

"Girl trouble, huh? Lemme guess, you have a crush on Nami, but she won't notice you because you are just a dumb farmer."

"What?"

"Darn, I was hoping I wasn't the only one."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but my name is Roy and I am a farmer as well."

"Well, we may not have the same problem, but we don't seem that different! The name's Jack. I own the farm just east of here." He pointed in that direction. "I haven't been doing to well today with the stand, so why don't I close up and you can come over to my farm."

Roy was quick to accept the invitation, thankful that he now had something to do. The two left for the farm, and Roy didn't come back till late that day. He liked the farmer and maybe, just maybe, he would make this time away from Elli bearable.

Roy's hope had come true, and the days passed by with a little more speed. It was in the afternoon of his third day away from Elli when he received a letter from the Mineral Town clinic. He quickly ran upstairs to his room in the inn and tore open the envelope.

His eyes glazed over the letter and his mouth dropped open.


	5. Chapter 5

"Welcome back to bass fishing!"

Elli groaned. When will the clinic get cable? Elli looked over at her grandmother who was resting in the hospital bed in the Mineral Town Clinic. Elli suddenly felt a rush of guilt. Roy was right, lying to her grandma about getting married to him was kind of wrong.

She sighed as she shook her grandma gently. Ellen opened her eyes slowly. "What is it Elli?"

"Um, grandma, I have a confession."

"Well what is it? I'm tired."

"It's just that, well, I am not marrying doctor."

"You're not? Well, that's alright, as long as you are happy, my dear." Elli sighed in relief. "Yes, you can marry anyone you want….except for some loser like that farmer that just moved in." Her eyes narrowed. "_Oh, how I loathe him_."

Elli forced out a nervous laugh. "Well actually, grandma-" She was interrupted by a coughing fit from Ellen.

"Grandma? Grandma, are you okay?" Elli's eyes widened in fear. Doctor rushed into the room looking nervous.

"Is she okay?" he asked his nurse.

"I don't know. All of a sudden she started coughing," Elli replied as she rubbed her grandma's back soothingly.

Doctor looked dismayed. "Her recovery has been less then steady. In fact, she seems worse than when we first got here. I think we may be here a while longer."

Elli nodded in agreement. "Someone should tell Roy that we might not get back till a little later than we had hoped. Do you mind writing the letter? I think I should go see how Stu is handling all of this."

"Of course."

"Who is Roy?" Ellen asked suspiciously when she was able to speak.

"Not a farmer," Elli answered as she left the room.

Doctor returned to his desk. He opened a drawer and pulled out a piece of paper, a quill, and a bottle of ink. He thought for moment of what to say, and then he began to write.

_Dear Roy,_

_I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but something has come up. We may be here longer than expected as Ellen has become extremely ill. I am afraid we may lose her. I am sorry, as I know how much she meant to you._

_Sincerely, Doctor_

Doctor looked down at his finished letter. A few words were smudged but it looked readable. He sealed it in an envelope and deposited it in the mailbox outside. He heard faint cries coming from Ellen's house sounding like Stu's. He sighed and went back into the clinic.

Roy read the letter, his heart beating very fast. Doctor's letter was in his hands as he sat on his bed in the inn. _We may be here longer than expected as Ell-- has become extremely ill. I am afraid we may lose her. _There it was, stated plainly in his hands- his true love was dying. Of course, the Ell could be Ellen instead of Ellie, but this idea was dismissed when he read the next sentence. _I am sorry, as I know how much she meant to you._ That was it. How could it possibly be referring to Ellen, a woman who would find joy in seeing him be fed to a pack of starving crazed weasels? Elli could be dead before he would be able to reach her. If possible, his heart seemed to sink even more as he realized that all he said to her before she left was…well, he couldn't remember, but that wasn't the point. He only wished he could have said something better.

He gloomily sank his head into his hands. Between cracks in his fingers, he saw a lone feather from their pillow fight floating across the floor. That day seemed far away. He walked out onto the patio and looked out beyond the sea. He saw the farm, the beach, and the bar in which he sat that day. Hoping that maybe a drink would slightly cheer him up from his deep depression, he headed out of the inn.

The bar was filled with people all laughing and talking. He went up to the counter and sat down. A blonde, of the female species, was cleaning tables. She spotted Roy, got a slightly devious yet excited look in her eyes, and strutted towards him.

"Hey, what's a hottie like you doing here all by yourself? I think you need someone to share a table with." Completely abandoning her job, the girl filled two mugs and sat down with out a word from Roy.

"I'm Muffy, by the way."

"Oh. Um, I am Ro-"

"So, hottie, what's eating you? You looked so depressed."

"It's just that-"

"Well whatever it is, it can all be forgotten with one mug of this stuff." She held one of the mugs sitting on the counter. "This is our strongest drink. Enjoy!"

Five drinks later, Roy was now sitting on a beach. He felt strange, but very relaxed. He saw Elli and his eyes lit up. She was wearing a hula skirt. She stepped aside and there was another Elli standing next to her. He then heard a voice that did not belong to Elli, though it was a female voice.

"Hottie, are you okay? How many fingers am I holding up?

"Forty-three, of course." He hiccupped.

Unfortunately for Roy, he was not on Paradise Island. There were no Elli clones wearing hula skirts. He was sitting in the blue bar, completely drunk. He blinked and suddenly he could see what was actually going on, though it was quite blurred. Muffy, who was apparently sitting comfortably on his knee, was telling anyone who'd listen that he was her new boyfriend. Roy felt his knee falling asleep under her weight. He got up, oblivious to the girl perched upon his lap, and saw an orange bandana belonging to someone's head.

"Muffy, what are you doing," said the blurred face. He couldn't really tell what it was saying since messages were traveling slowly to his brain but he could recognize the voice.

The girl that had fallen off his lap answered. "I was just having a good time with my boyfriend. Is that such a crime Celia?" Celia's mouth dropped open and her eyes widened.

Muffy helped Roy get up, his arm around her and the majority of his weight leaning on her. Stumbling, she led him out of the bar with Celia calling after them, "But he can't be your boyfriend! HE IS GETTING MARRIED!"


	6. Chapter 6

Roy awoke the next morning with strong pain in his head. He stared at the ceiling and tried to remember what had happened last night. He only remembered an odd dream involving Elli clones and a hula skirt.

"Elli, you will never guess what I dreamed about last night," he said as he turned his head. He screamed. In a chair in the far corner of the room was a blonde girl casually reading a magazine. She noticed him and smiled.

Roy panted heavily. He managed to get out "Who the hell are you?" in a frightened voice.

"Don't remember? I am Muffy, you know, your new girlfriend."

"No you're not. You're that girl in my dream last night. I remember your face."

"Hate to break it to you, but you weren't in dream land. You were so drunk, that you passed out on the way back here. I came back to check on you."

Roy was about to protest, but before he could, the door burst open and a red faced nurse came storming in holding several bags of luggage. "YOU LYING, CHEATING…err, farmer. I can't believe Celia was telling the truth!" She turned to Muffy, who was surprisingly relaxed considering what just happened. "_Excuse me, _but you are with my FIANCEE!"

Elli knelt down and opened one of the bags she had dropped in her rage, and began throwing random items at Roy. "I leave for a few days, and I come back to find you with some stupid bar tender!" She shouted, pausing between each word to throw a lipstick, eye shadow, or other cosmetic in Roy's general direction.

Ignoring the eyebrow pencil that hit him squarely between his eyes, Roy beamed and wrapped his arms around his volcano in a dress (Not a smart move) "You're alive!" he said squeezing her as though he would lose her again if he let go.

So taken aback by this, Elli remained speechless until she remembered why she was mad. "Get your hands off me!" she hissed as she slammed her foot down on his to make him let go. Roy clutched his foot in his hand and hoped around the room on one leg, knocking down a potted plant in the process.

"Of course I'm alive you idiot!"

"But… the letter?" Roy said as he lied on the ground in fetal position. It was at this moment that the door opened up once again and a strong, disgusting smell of burnt food filled the room. Rock was standing in the threshold holding two plates of what resembled burnt scrambled eggs.

"Hey, guess what? I finally learned how to make scrambled ---" his voice trailed off as he looked around the room. "Er, incase you're hungry," he said as he sat down the bowls. He glanced over where Elli was and he gave out a cry and quickly shut the door. Roy couldn't blame him, and if he himself wasn't so happy, he would cry too.

Suddenly, Elli's temper fell and she looked sad, though her hair was still sticking up on end and her face was as red as a tomato. She stuck her hand in her pocket and pulled out something and sat it on the dresser. When she took away her hand, Roy saw that it was a Forget-Me-Not flower. He opened his mouth to say something but Elli started first. "Well," she said fighting back tears. "Celia's waiting for me downstairs. I'll leave you two together." And she left the room. After a few seconds, Roy ran to the stairs.

"Are we still getting married?" he yelled after her, but she pretended that she didn't notice him. Roy sulkily returned to his room to find Muffy eating some of Rock's recipe.

"This isn't too bad," she said.

Roy's face was upset, his brow was furrowed and his eyes were shining trying to hold back tears. "Please, just go away," he sighed. "And take those eggs with you." Muffy seemed a little offended and arose from the chair with one hand on her hip, and the other holding the plate of eggs.

"Well, fine then. We are through." She turned and left the room haughtily.

Now what? Elli had left, and if he cared about his physical health, he wouldn't bother her until tomorrow. A sudden rush of confusion and homesickness hit Roy. He wished that they had never left home, that Elli was still in love with him, that his foot would stop hurting. Roy stopped himself. What was the point of wishing? All he needed was to talk to someone. Someone who would understand what it's like to have a girl hate you because you're just a stupid farmer.

---

"Is that you Nami?" a familiar voice called out. "I'll be there in a second." Despite his state of depression, Roy couldn't help smile at this comment as he waited outside the door of his new friend, Jack. The door opened with Jack standing in the doorway with a bouquet of flowers. "Oh, err," he said as he hid the flowers behind his back. "I thought you were someone else." Roy smiled and Jack let him in. Once they were settled down at Jack's table with two mugs of coffee, Roy felt slightly less miserable. Jack's house was very similar to Roy's and he felt at home. His house was cramped and his bed had many dog hairs in it.

"So," Roy asked. "How is it working out with you and Nami?"

"Really great! She gave me a new nickname too!" he answered enthusiastically. "Jacko the Whacko. I think that's a good thing… Oh, and I was wondering, when is you're wedding again?"

Roy became miserable once again as he remembered that he may not ever have a wedding. If he couldn't marry Elli, he wouldn't marry anyone else. His drop of mood seemed to have showed on his face because Jack suddenly looked curious.

"You are getting married, aren't you?" he asked slowly. Roy sighed and told him his story. From Stu's arriving letter, to the Muffy encounter, and finally to Elli's rage. Yet, as he told, he felt slightly better because Jack seemed to understand and did not criticize or interrupt him. When Roy had finished neither of them spoke for awhile.

"Well," Jack finally said. "I'm not saying what happened wasn't entirely your fault, but who in their right mind has five mugs of the Blue Bar's strongest drink in one night? I would dump you too."

"Thanks for your sympathy," Roy responded coldly.

"You should do something nice for her. Give her flowers or something. Trust me, as a babe magnet, I know these things."

"Well, I guess that would work," Roy said thoughtfully. "Though I am kind of hesitant about getting within 20 ft of her. When she's mad, she's dangerous."

"Roy, don't worry." Jack told him reassuringly. "I know how much you two loved each other. She still likes you; she is just feeling hurt and betrayed. I bet that right now, she is over at her friend's house talking about whether she should forgive you or not.

---

"I just don't know if I should forgive him or not, Celia." Elli stared into her coffee mug waiting for her cousin to answer.

"Forgive him! Elli, he was cheating on you! If Hillary did that, he would be out on the doorstep in five seconds flat!"

Elli shifted her weight in Celia's dining chair. "I don't think you have to worry about that, Celia."

"But still, Elli, if you forgive him, he will think that it is all right to cheat on you. You deserve better than someone who will see other people."

"Of course," Elli replied although she wasn't exactly sure if her cousin was right. Elli changed the subject. "Celia, could you turn on the air conditioning? It's really hot in here all of a sudden." She rolled up her blue sleeves.

Celia looked at her cousin. Her face was red and sweaty. She looked down at her wrist and her eyes widened. It was covered in red bumps. "Are you alright?"

But Elli could not answer. Her voice was lost to a fit of coughing. In between coughs, she tried to reassure her cousin that she was alright. Finally her coughing died down and she was simply panting. "I am fine" she said in between long, wheezy breaths.

Doctor had now entered the room looking pale. "Dear lord, not you too Elli."


	7. Chapter 7

A N: I know how late this chapter is, please forgive me! I am sorry. Okay, enough with the boring intro thing, here is the chapter!

Roy was sitting on his bed attempting to sew up a hole in his overalls. He wasn't really doing a good job either. He kept poking himself in the finger and the stitching was loose and messy. He had his mind mostly on Elli and he knew she could do a better job.

Roy was sucking on his finger after poking himself for the fifth time when he was interrupted by the sound of Doctor's voice. Roy was feeling resentful to hearing what doctor had to say. It seemed as though his presence brought bad news.

The doctor cleared his throat. "I am afraid that I am the bearer of bad news, Roy." But before he could actually get to what was wrong, Roy cut him off.

"Listen, Doctor. I know Elli hates me. I know she doesn't want to marry me. It's nice of you to come and make it official and all, but I get the point." He put his head in his hands.

"Well, she does seem to be quite upset with you," Doctor replied. "But that is not the bad news," he added.

Roy looked up at Doctor and gave him a look that clearly suggested he did not know what could possibly be worse than what he had thought Doctor was going to tell him. "Well…what is it? Does it have anything to do with Elli?" Roy asked, and for one rare occasion, he was completely serious.

Doctor seemed as though his shoes were exceedingly fascinating and his eyes could not leave them. "Well," he finally said, "I'm afraid so Roy. You see, Elli has…unfortunately caught her grandmother's sickness and she isn't well."

There was a brief silence as Roy realized what he had said. His first reaction was fear, but it was over clouded by a sense of disbelief. "But, but, I thought Ellen was just old and like, her liver was practically dead, or something."

"Err, well, that is what I though too." Doctor took a big breath as though preparing himself for what he was about to say. "But it seems I was wrong." Doctor made a defeated sigh and Roy could swear he saw the light shine off of a tear trickling down his cheek. Amazing, Roy thought, how he could be so untouched when he finds out Elli has a fatal illness, and yet find so much emotion that he is moved to tears when he is wrong. Doctor wiped his face and continued as if he was talking about the weather. "Elli has had all the same symptoms of her grandmother and if she doesn't obtain the right medicine, there could be a chance that she will die."

"And you haven't given it to her yet, why?"

"We don't have it here. This is a very rare disease, and the medicine required is far away and there are many risks in going to fetch it," Doctor said.

Roy thought for a moment. "I could get it. I could go get the medicine."

"I repeat, there are many risks in going to fetch it." Doctor could tell by Roy's face that nothing could persuade him from not going. He sighed in a way that told Roy he would have a chance to go get the medicine after all.

"It's called the Elixir of Life," he said. "It's made by an old woman on a place called Windfall Island. However, the trip there will be dangerous. There are pirates, sharks, and an evil wind god who sends tornadoes at you."

Roy's brief moment of seriousness passed and he yawned and pretended that he had heard everything. "Sounds great…you can come with me."

"What?" Doctor was a bit surprised at this comment. "Of course not! It is way too dangerous. I think you're crazy to go."

"Well I think you're crazy to sit around on you butt while my fiancée is dying in Celia's house."

When Roy was four, he had a small turtle named Specks. Specks was a gift from his parents, but the excitement wore off soon after he got him. Roy didn't mind feeding him or cleaning his cage, but he was a bit disappointed when he found out that his new pet did nothing but eat and sleep. Sometimes, he would sit by Speck's cage on a plastic chair that was about twelve inches high and just stare blankly at his turtle hoping that he would do something interesting.

It was on one such occasion that he noticed the unavoidable stare that his turtle possessed. Specks was eating a leafy piece of lettuce when he looked up at the four year old and gave him a penetrating look, and suddenly, Roy felt like he had to clean the cage of his turtle just to make him stop staring. Then it hit him: this stare could get you anything you want.

For the next week, Roy practiced this stare. And he found that he was right; this was a look that would help him the rest of his life.

Roy looked at Doctor, gave him the cold, hard stare that he had mastered so many years ago. Doctor squirmed uncomfortably and tried to avoid his eyes, but it was no use. It was as though his eyes were glued to Roy's. He continued to stare and finally, Doctor caved in.

"Alright! I'll go! We should leave today if we want any chance of saving Elli. I still can't believe your making me go with you," he muttered. "I hate boats, I always get sea sick."

"Be a man, Hillary! Pack some Tum's and bring a paper bag," Roy retorted as he began to pack his suitcase. Let's see…tooth paste, snorkel, pajamas, yep, I am all set." Roy picked up his bag and his guitar and started to make his way down the stairs.

"What is that for?" Doctor called after him referring to the guitar.

"You said it was a long trip, right?" Roy answered as he ran down the stairs with Doctor following him. Doctor caught up with Roy and suggested that they stop by his house to get his baggage.

They entered Celia's house, Roy feeling extremely uncomfortable. Luckily for him, Elli was asleep. He could almost feel his heart break as he saw her lying in Celia's bed sound asleep, most likely thinking of ways to keep him out of her house. Though he would probably regret this, Roy walked over to Elli. He wanted to hold her, tell her everything was all right, though it was far from that.

Roy stepped closer, ready to lean over and-

"Sorry, visiting hour doesn't start for another 43 minutes. Thank you," Doctor told him as he stepped in front of him.

"You're most welcome," Roy muttered.

"Now come on Roy." Roy followed Doctor past Celia and took him downstairs into his basement. It was pitch black until Doctor lit a torch. Roy looked around him self. He was in a long, stone hallway with a large wooden door at the end. Their foot steps echoed through the hallway as they made their way to the door.

Doctor stopped for a moment and waited for Roy to catch up. He put his hand against one of the bricks and the door at the end of the hallway swung open. Roy's eyes widened. They had entered a large room filled with every kind of weapon imaginable. What did Doctor do in his spare time?

Doctor grabbed several knifes and handed them to Roy. "In the hands of an expert, a knife has over a hundred uses."

"Remind me again how you became the expert," Roy said slowly.

"Five years in the NSA. Then I started my weapon collection, which is what you see here today," he answered as he tossed Roy a grappling hook and a back pack to put it all in.

"_Right…"_

The door opened once again and Celia burst in and threw her arms around Doctor.

"Where are you going Hillary? I want to know what is going on!"

"Roy and I need to leave to get the Medicine for Elli," he answered as he pried Celia off of him.

"But why the weapons? You know how I hate to see you using them. And why is he here," she asked as she pointed a threatening finger at Roy.

"These are just in case we get into trouble. And we can trust Roy, right?" He turned and looked at him. Roy nodded vigorously.

"Doctor, you are not taking any weapons with you! If you do, I won't marry you." She crossed her arms and looked away. Doctor groaned.

"Fine, we won't take anything. Just let us have one knife," he pleaded. Finally Celia agreed to let him bring one knife and the grappling hook, though she still seemed reluctant to let him go at all.

"What if you miss our wedding day? What if you get captured by pirates and our forced to sing your way out of capture?"

"Celia, that will never happen. We will be fine, trust me." They embraced.

"I will miss you…" she whispered in his ear as he held her in his arms.

Doctor noticed Roy waiting uncomfortably, and told him to go get a boat. Roy started down the hall way, but stopped and looked back over his shoulder and saw Doctor bend down, and kiss his fiancée on the lips. Passionately. "Okay, I admit it: you are one hell of a man, Doctor," Roy said to himself. Quickly turning his head, Roy continued down the path at a much faster pace.

Dr. Hardy leaned over Elli's bed. "She seems to be waking up."

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!" Elli let out a piercing scream and punched Dr. Hardy in the face.

"Calm down Elli! It's just Dr. Hardy," Celia said shaking her cousin.

"He is Dr. Hardy? He's got a freakin' eye patch!" she shouted. Elli tried to calm down, but her thoughts went back to Roy, and she couldn't help but feel anxious again.

"Where is Roy?" Elli asked her cousin with a worried look.

"He…he left."

Elli's mouth dropped open. He left? He went back home? Why hadn't she apologized before? Now it was too late and he had left her. Celia noticed Elli's depressed expression and tried to say something comforting, but before she could Elli leaped out of bed and dashed out of the building.

Doctor Hardy, who was quite calm considering what had just happened, turned to Celia. "I don't think you should say any more to Elli about Roy. In her condition, it would be best if she didn't get to emotional. Besides, we don't want her running all over town!"

Elli had no idea where she was going. She just kept running, tears streaming down her face. She kept bumping into people because her vision was blurry from tears. Her throat felt dry and her heart was pounding, but she paid no attention as all she could think about was how she messed up, how wrong she was.

Elli stopped for a moment to catch her breath. She had run all the way across town and now her lungs were on fire. She looked up and saw the field of forget-me-nots. She remembered the days when she was with him, when nothing was wrong. She ran into the field, looked up at the sky as if asking the gods 'why', and collapsed on the ground in tears.

Happy? I did a nice long chapter to make up for it being so late. New side to Doctor, neh? I don't know for sure, but I think I am the first person to do a story where doctor was in the NSA. The NSA is like CIA, except more secretive or what ever.


	8. Chapter 8

_Hello to everyone! I have been hard at work on this next chapter, so I hope you enjoy it. Oh and the song in this chapter was not made up by me. It is a Chris Isak song and I hope I don't get in trouble for using it. The song is called "Don't leave me on my Own" and I thought the lyrics and everything worked well so I decided to use it. Okay dokey, I think I am done talking and such. Now you can read while I go eat some Pocky and do the Numa Numa dance!_

It was a large ship, originally made for transporting cargo. With lots of storage and room for two to sleep, Roy could not help to feel proud of the boat he had picked for their adventure.

Roy picked up his bags with some effort and carried them onto the rocking boat. He set them down and called to Doctor who was still hesitant to boarding. "You all set to leave?"

Doctor looked down into a brown bag that he was holding. "I've got a Costco container of Tum's and some ginger ice cream. I'm all set."

The two men got set to leave, or rather Doctor got set to leave and Roy sat slouching looking at a picture of Elli at Disney land. She was standing with him, winking and grabbing his arm. He was looking blank and bored, and the contrast between their emotions was like Space Mountain and It's a Small World.

"Roy, nothing you can do now will make Elli love you again, so get up and help get the sail up!"

"Come on Doctor."

"No."

"You know you want to."

"No, I don't."

"You do."

"Don't."

"Just one chorus."

"Fine." Doctor sighed.

Roy strummed his guitar and began to sing. "Springsteen, Madonna, way before Nirvana. There was U2, and Blondie, and music still on MTV. Her two kids, in high school, they tell her that she's uncool. 'Cause she's still pre-occupied with…." Roy stopped and looked at Doctor who just rolled his eyes and sighed.

"1985," he said at last.

Roy finished with a couple more chords and then put his guitar down. Despite the fact that Roy was enjoying bugging doctor, his thoughts always returned to Elli.

"I miss her…," he said quietly.

"Who?"

Roy looked at Doctor with a blank look. "Celia," he said sarcastically.

"She was so helpful and would always help me grow my crops…even though she was terrible at it," he continued.

Doctor gave him a perplexed look. "Celia is great at growing crops!"

Roy sighed. "And she really loved chocolates too."

"Oh my god!" Doctor yelled.

"What's wrong with chocolates?" Roy said, puzzled.

Doctor gripped Roy's shoulders and turned him around. On the horizon was a huge ship with black sails blowing in the wind. Doctor was still gripping Roy's shoulders incredibly hard until Roy gave him a do-you-mind-look. Doctor let go of him and started tearing through their bags.

"Wow!" Roy said enthusiastically. "It's just like Pirates of the Caribbean!" Doctor found what he was looking for and pushed the smiling Roy out of his way.

"I think their pirates!" he said with an unusually high voice. He was looking through his telescope that he had remembered to pack before they left. "Yes, they are definitely pirates. But it looks like they are going in another direction, maybe they didn't spot us."

"Hey, pirates! Over here! Your boat is really cool! Could you give us a ride to Windfall Island?" Roy yelled at the top of his lungs. He put his hands to his mouth, ready to shout more, but Doctor covered his mouth before he could.

"Great, now they are coming towards us. Thanks a lot genius," he said. "Well, their ship is about twice as fast as ours, so there is no chance that we could run away and we don't have any weapons to fight them with. Our only chance of survival is to not let them board our –,"

"Hey the pirates are here. I just let them in for you!" Roy interrupted him. Several large and hairy men jumped aboard their boat. Doctor looked terrified and Roy was grinning from ear to ear like he was on Space Mountain again.

"We'd like to speak to your captain," Doctor said trying to push the very high pitch away from his voice.

"Down here!" said a voice.

Doctor looked down and saw a young girl standing in front of him. She was very tan and she had incredibly large eyes. "I'm Tetra, the captain," she said proudly.

Roy looked down at her. "But your just a kid," he said. Tetra turned and stared very coldly at him. Roy didn't get the vibe. He reached into his pocket. "You want some candy?" he said in a gentle voice.

Tetra was clearly very angered by this and she just stood there, one eye twitching. Finally, she ordered her men to search the boat for any items of value. In a surprisingly short amount of time, most of the ships valuables were loaded into a burlap bag labeled 'swag'.

"Now, what to do with these two…" the pre-adolescence Captain said as she slowly circled them. The large, putrid men that made up her crew began to close in, and soon Doctor and Roy were completely surrounded, the dark shadows of the men covering them completely.

In several minutes, Roy and Doctor were tied to the mast; the feeling of regret and self-pity over whelmed them. With a smug smile the captain ordered for her men to take their things to her ship. "You shouldn't cause any trouble like this, so I think it will be safe to leave you here in the middle of the ocean." She turned to leave with out the slightest regret for leaving two men to die.

"Wait!" Roy called to her. She turned and waited with her hand on her hips. "I get a last request, don't I?"

Tetra sighed. "They always want the last request! Okay, just get it over with."

"I need to be set free."

"Let's not go over board here," she said.

"No, I mean I need my hands free so I can play my guitar." Tetra just rolled her eyes and cut Roy free. He got up, rubbed his wrist, and then began searching through one of the bags that was being carried away by a member of Tetra's crew. He rummaged through it until he found a tape recorder. He then grabbed his guitar from another pirate and got ready to play.

"Hold this." He thrust the tape recorder into the hands of a shirtless pirate with a large black moustache. "Now when I say go, press the red button with a circle. When I say stop, press it again. Got it?" The pirate said nothing. Roy suspected that the pirate's brain wasn't quite in proportion to the size of his body.

Roy figured the pirate would have to work and got his guitar out of the case. He fit his head through his guitar strap and began to tune it. When he was finally satisfied with the sound he turned to the pirate and signaled for him to press the button. He grunted and slowly pressed the red circle. Roy took a deep breathe and began to strum his guitar.

Roy cleared his voice. Then he opened his mouth and words began to flow out.

"I've been thinking, a lot about you.

I'm so lonely, here with out you.

Please, don't leave on my own."

His voice was not great, but to the pirates who had little knowledge of musical talent his singing was that of angels. Even Tetra, who had been ready to leave as soon as she could, stopped to listen to Roy's song.

"I was hoping, you would write me.

Come and see me, just invite me.

Please, don't leave me on my own.

"Plea-ase, don't leave me own my own.

"I stay up late now, 'cause I've been crying.

Said I'm okay, but I've been lying.

Please, don't leave me on my own."

Roy began continued and broke out into a 27 second guitar solo. His strumming then fell into the original beat and he finished with a repeat of the first verse. Letting the final chord ring, he sat there and no one made a sound, just listened to see if he would play more. Roy bowed his head and the pirates broke out into a loud applause. The audio pirate was about to press down on the record button when Roy motioned for him to stop.

"Hold it a second." He took the recorder out of the pirate's hands and spoke into it. His face became serious and he lowered his head slightly. "Elli, that was for you. I want to say I am sorry. Sorry for failing to bring you your medicine. I am sorry that neither of us may make it to our wedding day; you being too weak to stand and I, in the middle of the ocean left here by pirates to die. But let my last note to you be one of joy, not sorrow, though I know it is difficult in these grave times. I love you, more than any man could ever love a woman. I love you more than life it self and if I could give my life for yours I would do it faster than a blink of an eye, though that doesn't really make a difference now since I am losing mine anyways.

"Remember the day when we sat in the field of forget-me-nots? I never wanted that day to end; I wanted to hold you in my arms forever. I felt that if I did let you go, you would disappear from me. I guess I was right. I know you hate me now, and I don't blame you, but if it is not too much to ask it would make this last bit of life I have the sweetest of all if you just remember that day always, and let the memory carry me with you in your heart where ever you go. Elli, your fiancée loves you."

With a great sigh, Roy pressed the record button again. "Alright, tie me back up. I got my last request," he said as he looked up at Tetra and her crew. But the usually malicious group of pirates did not speak. Instead, the group just stood still tears rolling out of their eyes and their shoulders moving up and down from their sobs. Tetra handed one of the men a bandanna to use as a hanky which he took gratefully.

"That is the saddest thing I have ever heard," the captain managed to say between sobs. She wiped her nose. "Is she really to weak to make it to her own wedding day?"

"Well, even if she could make it, it doesn't really matter since I, the groom, am going to be left here to die. And she hates me because she thinks I don't love her anymore so she probably wouldn't want to get married anyways," Roy replied and the pirates broke out into fresh sobs at this new addition to the tragic tale.

"It makes me heart break just to hear the story," one of the men said to his friend. His ally nodded in agreement.

"And what with his song and all. This is what true love looks like," he cried. The two men hugged each other and Tetra patted their backs comfortingly.

"There there Bruno, just let it all out." She turned to Roy, her face red and moistened from her tears. "You may go. We could never add an unhappy ending to a story like that."

"Thank you. Would you mind mailing this for me?" Roy asked, handing the tape recorder to Tetra. The captain nodded her head.

"Her name is Elli Sparrow and she is staying in Forget-me-not Valley." Roy stopped for a moment. He swore he had heard one of the pirates gasp. He decided to think nothing of it and continued. "It is a small town so you could mail it to the inn and she would probably reach her. The address is 335 Rain Bird Rd," he informed her.

Tetra suddenly grabbed the collar of one of her crew and pulled him down so his face was almost touching hers. "Rember that address or I am going to leave _you _here!" The man nodded vigorously and his captain calmed down.

"She will be getting it soon!" Tetra said gleefully. Her smile turned devious and she looked at Doctor who had remained silent for quite some time now. His eyes widened in sudden fear.

"Now what to do with you?" She stepped towards him slowly, her crew close behind her, some beginning to draw their knifes. "Now, unless you can tap dance…."

"Hey," Roy called out. The pirates turned their heads to him. "He's got a PHD," Roy pointed out. The pirates looked at each other and weighed this in their mind and eventually considered it good enough of a reason to let him go. Tetra made a hand gesture and someone stepped forward and cut the ropes holding the doctor back. He stood up and rubbed his wrist to get the circulation back into his hands.

A rather short pirate stood behind Doctor and looked at him incredulously. He appeared to be a man that had more in the brain department rather than bulk. "So," he said pushing his thick glassed up on his nose, "are you a _real_ doctor? Or do you just act like you have a medical degree? I bet you don't even know the proper word for skin is."

Doctor just looked down at the pirate with a blank face. There was slight pause and Doctor's fist struck the pirate hard in his eye knocking him out. "Dermis," he said brusquely as the rest of the crew applauded. It was apparent that the pirate Doctor had just punched was not very liked.

Tetra put her hands on her hips approvingly. "That's just Greg. He took one class on dermatology and now he thinks he is all that. But that was some knock out! You deserve some of our give-aways," she said to Doctor. She whistled and two men brought out a large sack that was originally used for 'swag'. Doctor and Roy looked inside and saw hundreds of hats, coasters, stickers, and Frisbees, all with Tetra's logo on it. Roy took a Frisbee and a sticker for his guitar case and Doctor pulled out several coasters and a hat which he put on with a grin.

Once goodbyes had been said, Roy and Doctors ship was well on their way and Tetra was now relaxing in her favorite chair. She liked Roy, and she truly hoped he would get back together with his Elli. She didn't know how lucky she was, Tetra thought to herself. Roy loved her so much and was so devoted to her. All she had was-

Tetra's thoughts were interrupted by a tap on her shoulder. She turned and saw her first mate, Owen, standing beside her. He was not a big man, tall but lanky and in his late thirties. He was strong, but what Tetra admired about him was his intelligence and ability to make others see someone else's opinion. He brushed his dark hair away from his eyes nervously. "Captain…" he said slowly, "About the letter"-

"Oh, right! Thank you for reminding me, I almost forgot we have to deliver it. We should stop by the nearest island and buy some stamps."

"Yes, well, err….I was wondering if perhaps I could deliver it my self."

Tetra gave him an inquiring look. She opened her mouth to say something but Owen held up the picture of Elli and Roy that had fallen out of Roy's luggage. Her expression changed to one of understanding when she realized what was going on. She grinned.

"Yes, Owen. I think that would be a grand idea. A grand idea indeed."

A/N _I forgot about the other song in their. That one I obviously didn't write, and we all owe a thank you to Bowling for Soup for making such a cool song. So that is it for now; I will be working hard on the next installment!_


	9. Chapter 9

_Okay, everyone, I finally updated this story. I know it took me forever, but hey, I've been busy. Anyways, I worked very hard on this chapter. You may have noticed that the last chapter was a bit of a cross over from Legend of Zelda: the Wind Waker. There is a bit more of that in this chapter too, i.e. the elixir of life and Granny. And btw, the character "Granny" is supposed to talk sort of strangely. Most of her sentences are not proper grammar, but they were meant to be that way for effect. So R&R!_

"Take deep breathes. Deep breathes." The forty-five year old looked down at the package he held in his hand. The tape recorder was wrapped in a piece of brown paper tied with a piece of string. It was his duty to give this package to Elli Sparrow, it was even his idea, but now he didn't feel quite so sure.

Owen looked back over his shoulder. He stood on a high hill above the coast of Forget-me-not Valley. Docked against the small beach was the ship of his captain, Tetra. She was young, but had spirit enough for two adults. He adored her, had never lied to her (except about his age), and always seemed to keep her out of trouble. She was almost like his daughter.

Owen saddened at this thought. Tetra wasn't his daughter. He hadn't seen his real daughter in about eight years. He took the photo of her out of his pocket. He rubbed the photo with his thumb feeling the smooth paper. She stood smiling happily next to Roy wearing a long blue dress with a white apron. She was so much older now, no longer the little girl he had left. His little Elli was a full grown woman.

Putting the photo back into his pocket, he decided to find directions to her house. The first person he saw was a young girl with shockingly red hair. She dressed much like a boy, with a short hair cut to match. Sulking away, her face was wearing a very peeved expression.

"Excuse me, miss," the pirate began, "but have you-"

"Go to hell," she retorted before he even finished. She walked away crossly.

"Okay…" he said sort of confused.

"Wait, Nami! Come back!" A man with brown hair and suspenders was calling after the sour girl that Owen had just met. The man stopped out of breath from running after her. He looked up and noticed Owen for the first time.

"Hey," the stranger said after regaining his breath.

"Hey," Owen greeted. "What's with her?"

"Oh, that's just Nami. She acts so tough, but I know on the inside she is just a sweet little kitten. I guess she didn't think so though and she stormed off just like that."

"Oh. Could you tell me were Elli Sparrow lives? I need to give her something."

"I know who you're talking about! That's my mate's fiancée. She doesn't actually live here, but according to Roy she is in that house over there." He turned and pointed to a house rather large in comparison to the ones next to it. Owen recognized this house though he had only been there a couple times many years ago. This house, or at least one time, belonged to his niece, Celia.

As he got closer to the house, he began to worry. What would he say to her? There was so much he wanted to share, and so much that he wanted to ask. Possibly, actually quite likely, she would be mad at him. After all, she thought he was dead when he had really been part of the crew that she believed to have been his murderer.

The house stood before him. Stuffing the package into his coat pocket, he encircled the house searching for a window. He found one on the side of the house which he peered into. Through the curtains he could see his daughter. Sitting on a couch with a blanket draped over her, she held a thick book that she was reading intently. Owen felt his heart skip a beat. Now the thought her being repulsed when she found the truth came back to mind. Maybe its best she didn't know, he thought to himself. He thought of all the people he had robbed and helped to capture, all the innocent people that had fallen victim to Tetra and her mighty crew. He was a sorry excuse for a person.

Owen approached the door. Half of him wanted to knock on the door, and half of him wanted to stay outside. His head felt dizzy with anticipation. The unanswered question of what to say came back into mind. Wiping the sweat that had gathered on his forehead he raised a shaking fist ready (or not ready) to knock on the wooden door.

Elli looked up from her book when she heard the sound of a knock at the door. She looked around the room making sure that Celia wouldn't be coming back into the living room, (she, and everyone else, wouldn't even let her get up to get the door), swung her feet off the couch and trotted over to the door. She always loved company, and hopefully it wouldn't be Dr Hardy with her daily walnut-sized pill. Elli turned the metal handle and swung the door open.

There was a package, but no trace of who had left it.

Outset Island was not known for crystal waters, for breath taking views, or for anything really interesting to do there. The water was far from crystal; murky at best. The plant life was not exceedingly beautiful: a few trees dotted here and there, weeds along the mountain cliff, maybe a defeated looking flower bed alongside one of the residential huts. But for some reason, when Roy and Doctor stepped onto the island, they found it as crowded as a book store the day _Harry Potter_ first comes onto the shelves.

Roy looked about the swarm of people. All seemed to be trying to get through to a certain hut. This hut, as Roy and Doctor soon found out, was unfortunately the exact hut they were trying to reach.

Doctor looked down at his watch. It read 8:59. "They must not be opened quite yet," he observed. Roy was craning his neck to try and get a glimpse of hut that was the one answer to saving his fiancée.

"Give me a lift," Roy said to the Doctor, still trying to peek over the top of the crowd. Doctor held his hands out, his fingers laced together. Roy then propped himself up, leaning on a nearby tree, and Doctor's head. He saw the door with a sign on it that read "Grandma's Home Cooked Soups, closed." The door creaked open and a small, hunched over old woman with a grey bun on her head stepped out and flipped the sign over. This side read "Open, come in. And wipe your damn feet."

Suddenly the flush of people began to move towards the house. Everyone was yelling and pushing and being aggressive the way people are when they want something bad enough. Doctor was shoved in his shoulder and stumbled with Roy still using his shoulder as a support for his foot. With Doctor moving, the farmer lost his balance and toppled over, luckily landing on a rather obese (but sweaty) tourist.

Doctor helped Roy to his feet. "Ugh, you have some serious BO! Get some deodorant!" he said covering his nose. Doctor wasn't the only one who had noticed. There seemed to be suddenly a 2 ft space around Roy, as though he was in a bubble that no one could get enter. Shrugging, the two men easily made their way through the crowd without being hassled, pushed, or touched what so ever.

Stepping up the wooden stairs, Doctor and Roy stood aside as several people moved out of the store, each giving Roy a disgusted look. Inside the shop were shelves and shelves of different potions, soups, elixirs, and that sort of thing. The old woman that had turned the sign around was sitting at a desk in the back of the shop telling something to a little girl. At first the room seemed crowded, but after a few minutes, it seemed to have emptied out (especially after the man that had broken Roy's fall stepped inside).

"Hello, hello!" the old woman said as the two men stepped forward to the desk. "How Granny help you two young men today?" She laced her fingers together and rested her hands against the desk.

"We need some _Elixir of Life._ Do you have any?"

Granny's mouth opened and she let out a long excited "Oh."

"You! I know who you are! You friends of Dr. Hardy! Oh yes, yes, yes." She smiled gleefully and added, "I know it you because he said one is a silly farmer boy that can't tell a hospital dress from a prom dress, and the other is a handsome doctor. Rich too. You aren't busy tonight, eh?"

Doctor shuddered. "Wait, Dr. Hardy said that about me?" Roy asked. Granny ignored him and began to search around in a cabinet on the wall labeled 'special orders'.

"Ah, here it is." She took out a bottle filled to the brim with a sparkling yellow liquid. "One bottle of Elixir of Life. Dr Hardy pay in advance so you free to go." She handed doctor the bottle. Turning to Roy she called out "Hey, you! Farmer! Quit drinking my last bottle of _Essence of Ostrich._ I have to export it from Morocco, you know. It ain't cheap."

Roy spat out what ever he had left in his mouth all over the fat tourist. "It looked like Cool Aid," he defended.

"LINK!" The old woman called out suddenly and loudly, making everyone jump. Roy noticed for the first time a door behind Granny's desk. It swung open and a guy about his age stuck his head out of the door. He was clad in green and looked rather like a Santa's elf-reject. His blonde hair was covered by a long pointed green cap.

"Yes, Granny?" he asked exasperated.

"You done walking Frou-Frou yet?

"Yes, Granny" he answered as he opened the door a little wider and a small and shaggy and vicious looking dog crawled out and hoped onto Granny's lap. The dog, or Frou-Frou, had its eyes covered with hair, but you could tell that if they were visible they would be red and evil looking. Granny patted the small dog on its head.

"Good. Now get to work on mopping up the floor." Link sighed and grabbed a mop in one hand and dragged a large bucket full of murky water behind across the floor with the other.

"Most Grandma's make their grandchildren cookies," Link mumbled to no one in particular. "Mine make me work for her on minimum wage."

"Err," Doctor said, turning the conversation back onto the elixir. "I suppose we should be making our way home…"

"Oh, what the rush? Come, come. Stay for a bit. At least let me get you some lemonade," Granny said ushering them to sit in two chairs by her desk. Opening what looked like a file cabinet, the two men saw that the drawer was not filled with files but with ice and bottles of lemonade. "For emergencies," she said as she took two out and handed them to Doctor and Roy.

"Could I have some lemonade?" Link asked hopefully.

"No. No lemonade for you."

"Business sure seems to be going well," Roy said as more people filled the shop.

"Yes, yes. Everyone wants potions. Potions for love, potions for hair, potions for BO…," she paused to look at Roy, "the list go on," Granny said sort of annoyed. Then her expression changed. "You, know love potion very popular. People put them in everything," she said eyeing Doctor. "Medicine, food, drinks…"

Doctor suddenly looked very nervous and stared down at the bottle of lemonade in his hand. Lost for words, he looked between the bottle and Granny who was trying to look innocent. "Thanks for everything, bye!" he said hurriedly and ran out the door.

Elli looked around. What was going on? Someone just left a package here. With no idea who dropped it or what it was, Elli picked up the parcel and carried it inside. Flopping down on the couch, she looked down at what she had in her hand. It was small, hard, and wrapped in brown paper. It must be for Celia, she thought to herself.

Unless it wasn't for Celia. This package could be for her. Elli shook her head at her own arrogance. What was she saying? Why would someone give her something? No one except Roy even knew she was staying here.

Elli looked down at the parcel again. Roy. It could be from Roy. Oh, how she wanted it to be from him. It could be anything, anything at all, and she would love it if it was from him…

"Wait, a minute!" Elli said aloud suddenly. She was mad at him, he _cheated _on her Everything came back now: the girl, the letter she received from Celia, him leaving. It just didn't seem fair. Roy was perfect, absolutely perfect. Elli buried her face in her hands in frustration. She wanted to forgive him so badly, but how could she after what he had done? And even if she did forgive him, he had gone back to Mineral Town without her. He didn't want her; he didn't care.

The package fell suddenly to the ground knocking Elli out of her deep, aggravated thoughts. She picked it up and played with the string it was tied with. If it was Roy, then that meant he did care. If it was from Roy, that meant he wanted to forget about what happened. That was what she wanted too. Elli decided right there to open the package. If it was from her fiancée, she would forgive him. If it wasn't, then she would just give it to Celia.

Elli ripped the paper open very slowly and gingerly. When all the brown wrapping was removed, she saw that it was a tape recorder. Curiously, she pressed the play button. Suddenly, the room was filled with music, the strumming of a guitar. Then, she heard a voice. The recording was fuzzy and not very clear, but she could immediately tell who was singing.

Elli gulped. It was from her Roy. She listened to the song. It was beautiful, just like him. A single tear rolled down her cheek and dripped onto her finger. Then the music stopped. She was about to turn it off when she heard Roy's voice say "Wait, hold it a second," as if on cue. She stopped and waited for something to happen. Then, it did.

"Elli, that was for you. I want to say I am sorry. Sorry for failing to bring you your medicine. I am sorry that neither of us may make it to our wedding day; you being too weak to stand and I, in the middle of the ocean left here by pirates to die. But let my last note to you be one of joy, not sorrow, though I know it is difficult in these grave times. I love you, more than any man could ever love a woman. I love you more than life it self and if I could give my life for yours I would do it faster than a blink of an eye, though that doesn't really make a difference now since I am losing mine anyways.

Elli burst into tears as the rest of the message played. When it was over, she flung the recorder across the room hitting the wall which caused the electronic to break with a loud crack. "NO!" she shouted, her voice shaking. "It's not true. It's not true!" The last true was choked by a fresh outbreak of tears.

Celia came into the room looking frantic. "What happened!" she asked seeing Elli's tear-stained face. She rushed to her cousin's side and put a comforting arm around her. "What's the matter?" she said in her caring voice, though this time it was deep with concern.

"He...He...He's dead," she croaked at last and broke into fresh sobs.

"What?" Celia gave her cousin a perplexed look. "Who's dead?"

"Roy!" she shouted wiping her red eyes. "I got the tape recorder that said he was captured by pirates. The pirates never take prisoners, never! They take them and , that's what everyone says."

"You, you, don't know that for sure," she said, her usual optimistic attitude showing, though Elli could trace a hint of doubt in her voice.

"My father was captured by pirates. I have never seen him since. And this was eight years ago! If he was alive, don't you think he would come for me?"

"I-I don't know…" Celia said quietly.

Elli buried her head in her arms, her shoulders moving up and down fiercely as she cried. "And he didn't go to Mineral Town. He was going to get medicine for me! It's all my fault! And now he is dead!

"Hush, Elli. It's not your fault at all. Why, if it's anyone's fault its Doctor's! He was the one that planned the whole trip and…" her voice trailed off when realization struck. "He-he-he was with Roy. My Hillary, he is gone too!" she said quietly, her voice becoming high pitched. Any encouraging words that she was about to say left her completely as her eyes swelled with tears at the thought of losing her fiancée.

Both sobbing, the two women held each other fiercely as if when they let go one of them would leave the other, just as Roy and Doctor had. Celia gripped onto Elli's blue dress as her cousin buried her face in her dress. For several minutes, they just sat on Celia's couch and cried, their faces becoming red and blotchy. Then Elli noticed a vase of forget-me-nots in a vase on Celia's table. She remembered Roy's words, "I love you Elli and I always will. When you see this flower, think of that."

In a voice so quiet it was almost nonexsistenet, she whispered "I will, Roy. I will."

_You, know, I here that clicking on that pretty little purple button down there is good luck. (Hint hint). _

_TTFN- _

_LoZeldafreak_


	10. Chapter 10

_Hello hombres, I am happy to tell you I have conquered both procrastination and level 9 Link in Super Smash Bros. And no, that isn't what I was doing the whole time between this and last update. I was playing a really awesome Star Wars game on my pc._

The people of Forget-me-Not Valley soon discovered that Celia and Elli had very different ways of dealing with grief. Celia, who felt that she would lose all dignity if some one knew she cried at night, tried to move on with her life as if nothing had ever happened, as if she and her fiancée had never met. She did her chores and went into town with a smile to each neighbor, but eyes that shined with the tears she was trying so hard to keep back.

Elli, on the other hand, didn't care one bit about what the neighbors thought. She locked herself in her room and refused to come out, not even to eat. She sat alone letting her grief wash over her and pull her down deeper. She said nothing, only stared at her wall and let tears silently trickle down her cheek as she wondered why fate was so cruel.

Celia had had enough.

"Elli? Elli, are you coming out?" She knocked on the door with her knuckles as she called out to her cousin once again.

"Celia, I am not coming out."

"Well then I am coming in." Celia opened the door to Elli's room and saw her sitting on her bed looking dismal. "Well?"

Elli looked up at Celia. "Well what?"

"Well, what is it going to take to get you to start eating again? You are not only sick, but disgustingly thin as well."

For a while she said nothing. Then as she stared at the wall she replied, "I just can't believe he's not coming back." Her voice choked at the last word.

"Well, sometimes you just have to move on." Celia's voice had unusual edge to it that surprised Elli for a minute. "I lost Doctor but I am not lounging around all day worrying everyone in town. I moved on. My life is fine."

"Fine! You go around trying to fool everyone and make them think that, but I know you are miserable inside."

"At least I'm trying to be happy!" she protested her voice rising. "Sometimes it's not about you, Elli. Sometimes, being a whiny bitch doesn't get you what you want."

"At least I care!" Elli shouted back. Celia silenced and her rage disappeared into a hurt look. She seemed like she was about to say something but she didn't. Elli bit her lip as she felt a rush of guilt about what she had said. She sat on the bed avoiding her eyes. Celia turned and walked out the door clearly upset.

She grabbed the door knob but before she left she turned to Elli and said in a shaking voice, "I loved him." Without waiting for a response from her cousin she left the room.

Elli flopped over onto her side and clutched a pillow in her fist, a frown across her face. She bit her lip again, then let out a regretful sigh. She stared at the wall sunk in everything that went wrong. She wanted to go apologize to Celia, but she didn't want to at the same time. She didn't know what she would say so she just remained lying there on her bed feeling very ill and seriously wishing that she had some French-fries to eat.

Celia decided to walk out her problems and enjoy the last bit of day before the sun went down. She put on a light jacket and stepped outside into the calm afternoon sun. She walked down the dirt road past several houses and stands closing up for the day. She followed the trail past the bar and the inn enjoying the peaceful serenity and almost forgetting about her troubles. Almost.

"Celia!" someone shouted disturbing the quiet peace. Celia turned around and saw Nami running towards her calling out her name. Whatever she had to say, it must be important; Nami was never excited about anything.

When Nami reached Celia she was almost out of breath. "Oh my god," she panted. "You are never going to believe this." Celia looked at Nami expectantly waiting for her to catch her breath before she could continue. "Doctor and that one guy are here."

Celia screamed. She screamed at the top of her lungs as birds flew out of trees and Nami put her hands over her ears. "Jesus, Celia. Calm down just a…"

Celia left before Nami finished what she had to say.

Celia could scarcely believe what she had heard, but sure enough a familiar sail boat was docked on the sandy beach with several boxes next to it. Then she heard the voice of her Doctor, a sound so sweet she could hardly bear it. "Roy, make sure you put the box of glass-ware down carefully," he called out. Celia could see Roy on the bow of the deck holding a heavy box.

"Don't worry, it's already down there," Roy answered. "Let me just toss this box of pennies down here and I'll come help with-" Roy was interrupted as the box he had just dropped landed on what Celia could tell had at one time been the glass ware. He looked over the edge and said quietly "oops."

The minute Celia saw Doctor get off the boat she ran to him and gave him a bone crushing hug. Doctor a smiled, though his face showed he was having a bit of trouble breathing. Celia let go, there eyes met, and in a second their mouths met too. Roy stood awkwardly trying to look away. When they didn't stop after a minute, Roy said quietly "I think I might just go find Elli," and he slinked away quietly.

Roy ran. Roy ran and ran and ran until he thought his lungs might burst like on a National Geographic he once saw. Just to see her smile, just to hear her voice, he thought to himself as his body grew more exhausted. Eventually he slowed down and then stopped to catch his breath. Only for a moment, he promised himself. Then he would run just a little more and he would be at Celia's house. He started up again, this time at a slower pace. I am not stopping again, he told himself, I am not stopping again.

"Hey Hottie, I forgive you," an extremely feminine voice said.

Roy stopped, only for a moment, and then remembered his promise to himself. "Sorry Muffy I can't stop. I have to get to Elli."

Muffy frowned. It wasn't fair. What was so special about some boring old nurse who seriously needed more eyeliner? There were no cute guys in the valley, and she wasn't about to let this one get away with out a fight.

"You can't talk to Elli." This made Roy stop again. "She is quarantine."

"But I have the medicine she needs," he replied.

Muffy's face became extremely serious as she said "I need to give it to her to make up for what I did. Besides, I know she would rather have me catch her illness than you." She smiled sweetly.

Surprised at Muffy's sudden display of kindness and regard for other people's feelings, Roy took a moment before answering "Gee, Muffy. That's really thoughtful of you, but I would really like to see her."

Muffy took his hand and said in the most pleading voice "Please Roy? I really need to do this." When she stuck her lower lip out slightly, Roy had to give in. And he thought he had a persuasive stare.

After he handed her the medicine, she smiled in a sort of devious way and skipped away. As she left she called out to him "Hey, why don't you tell Nami about your trip. I know she really wanted to hear about it." She continued skipping and Roy saw that Nami was coming just up the road. He shrugged and called Nami over.

&&&&

For the first time in 5 days, Elli stepped out of her room. She looked around Celia's living room, but it was deserted. Elli frowned- when she had finally found the courage to apologize, Celia was gone.

Celia was no marathon winner, and Elli figured she could catch up to her if she ran. She knew it 'wasn't good for her' but for god's sake she had starved herself for almost a week; since when did she care? She opened the door to leave, but someone she had never hoped to meet again stood in her way.

"YOU!" she shrieked.

"Hi!" Muffy said with a wave, ignoring the rage in Elli's eyes (when will she learn?). "I was in the neighborhood and I thought that I- "

Muffy was interrupted as Elli seized her neck in a tight grip and began shaking her violently while shouting "It's all your fault!" repeatedly. Muffy tried to pry the nurse's fingers of her neck, but Elli was strong; a lot stronger than a girl whose only exercise was walking to the mall and wiping down tables. Though she could breath, her face was becoming red and her eyes were full of panic.

Elli was about to start banging the bar-tender's head against a near-by desk, but Muffy gasped out "he's alive!" and Elli let go. Muffy held her neck and her face's natural color flushed back. Elli was bewildered and at a lost for words. Once Muffy had recovered, she began the next stage in her operation. "And I am totally over him. You can have him," She said coolly considering she was being strangled a few seconds ago, and then added "If you _want_ him back."

"What?" Elli asked bewildered.

"_Well_," she began, "I could _never_ be with someone like _that_," using more emphasis than was probably necessary.

"What do you mean?"

"He is such a player. Just now on my way here he was flirting with Nami." Muffy eyes looked at her dramatically as she waited Elli's reaction.

Elli frowned and let Muffy's words process in her brain. Then she looked up with a skeptical look and crossed her arms. "Nice try, sister. Like I am really going to fall for that. Why the hell should I believe you?"

"Don't believe me? Go look at your honey now." Muffy opened the door and fitting perfectly with her plan, Roy and Nami were talking happily as they walked up the road. Elli's jaw dropped and she stood for about half a minute as her face turned into one of complete rage. She marched out of the house towards Roy.

Roy immediately ended his conversation with Nami. Elli stopped in front of him and he smiled. Like Muffy, he wasn't very good on emotional cues, at least when he was overwhelmed with joy as he was at that moment. "I have missed you so much" he began.

This was her chance, Elli thought. She would tell him exactly how she felt, how angry she was. A sudden crowd of people had noticed them and was watching with interest. They waited for what she would say, and she suddenly found that any words in her mind had left her. She opened her mouth, was about to start yelling at Roy even though she didn't really know what to say when…

He kissed her. He held her tight and kissed her. He hadn't kissed her in a long time. She had forgotten how good it felt. But good enough to forgive him? Not today, farmer.

Roy winced as he felt the hard pain that came with Elli's slap. Along with that cold hard feeling came to other things. First was humiliation as the crowd around them whispered and stared at his public scorning. But worse was the realization that Elli was not glad to see him. He had been dreaming of this moment when they held each other after so long and everything would be all right and they could get married. But Elli's slap had brought him back down to Earth, which he suddenly realized was a very ugly place.

He touched his cheek gently, hurt in his eyes. "Elli," he began, "just listen."

"No, you listen, Roy." Her voice was hard but had slight tremulous sound. "I loved you, and I was almost convinced I still did. You told me you were dead, and I died too that day. But here it was just a big load, and you still toy with flirting with other women again. You do this to me and expect me to welcome you with open arms?" Now her voice was very unsteady, but she kept going. "I've put up with you for far too long." She turned to leave.

"Wait…" Roy whispered with his hand reaching out to grab her skirt. She ignored him and left him alone to the mortifying eyes of the crowd. Roy could her Rock behind him whisper to someone, "I bet she's going to come out and beat him up."

The person whispered back, "She'll win."

"Yeah, he better be praying," Rock said.

Roy suddenly felt very frustrated and the people watching him weren't helping. "What the hell do want!" he shouted to the crowd. "Just because you're bored of your pathetic lives doesn't mean you have to pry into someone else's!"

Rock folded his arms. "Yeah it does," he said. The rest of the crowd started to leave saying to each other how rude today's youth was and how back in their day, they had to walk two and a half miles to school in three feet of snow, somehow thinking that applied to the situation.

Only one person seemed to realize that Roy was just having a very hard week and didn't really mean what he had said, though he did raise a fairly good point. Jack hand on Roy's shoulder and gave him an encouraging smile. Roy tried to smile back weakly, but it was obvious that he was still upset.

They started to walk down the path to Jacks house. Jack's hand and smile had silently invited Roy to his house and Roy accepted. They walked in silence for a while; Jack understood that Roy didn't have much to say about what happened. Infact, he still seemed sort of irritated. Then when they had reached Jack's house and he was opening the door, he stopped and turning to Roy said, "You should relax, take a vacation."

"I'm on vacation!"

"Maybe you could eat yourself happy. I have some Organic Panda-"

He sighed and said bluntly "Just open the door."

&&&&

When Celia had found out what had happened with Roy, which was rather late as she and Doctor were, um…planning wedding operations, she immediately forgave Elli and went back to her caring and concerned self and worried that Elli would go back to starving herself. But Celia didn't have to worry. The next day Elli made three hamburgers and poured three glasses of Coke, which Doctor found out disappointedly she had no intention of sharing.

Despite her very large brunch, she was still feeling depressed, and not because she didn't have French-fries with her burger. She sat on the couch becoming even sadder as she painfully listened to Doctor whispering sweet nothings into Celia's ear. After sometime, she couldn't stand it anymore and she shut the door that led into the kitchen where the couple was sitting.

Though she was an emotional wreck once again, her illness seemed to be better. Dr. Hardy had given her some special medicine and it's effects were working even after only a day. The thought of the medicine reminded Elli of Roy's message. Another thing he lied about, she thought. What kind of idiot did he think she was? Dr. Hardy had gotten the medicine for her and then Roy tried to take the credit. It made her sick.

Her deep thoughts were interrupted as she heard the door open. She heard her name and at first thought it was Roy, but the voice it came from was from someone she had never expected to meet again.

_Oh, who could it be? For me to know and for you to find out! Also, please review._


	11. Chapter 11

Elli felt her voice choke and her eyes swell with tears. She immediately rushed to her father, who welcomed her with his open arms. "Elli, my little girl…you have grown so much," he said as he stroked her hair.

When she released him, Elli could feel her tears run down her cheek. She wiped them away and smiled. Her father's arrival could not be more welcomed than at this moment; a moment in which she felt completely lost and alone, in great need of a parent that would hold her and stroke her hair just as her father did.

"Look at you," Elli said at last. She was of course referring to the state of her father's clothes, tattered and dirty matching his grungy face. "What have you been up to?" she asked jokingly.

Elli had expected him to continue the joke- his good nature one quality that Elli enjoyed most of her father- but instead his face became grim. The question was no longer fleeting banter; what _had_ her father been doing these past years? Horrifying thoughts took hold of her running imagination.

"Elli," he began gently, as though he was talking to a small child, "I have a confession."

She prepared herself for the worst. "When I was captured by pirates I wasn't a prisoner for long."

"You escaped?"

He shook his head. "I joined them."

Elli's eyebrows rose in surprise but she said nothing. "I know you must be very ashamed of me. I am ashamed of myself. I understand if you want me to leave." He hung his head under the weight of his guilt.

"Leave?" Elli almost laughed. "Of course not! You're my father! I'd love you know matter what. Please don't go."

His face immediately brightened. "Are you sure?"

"Yes! Don't let me catch you thinking that again. Then I'll be angry," she put her hands on her hips in mock seriousness. Her father laughed and she joined him. "I have so much to tell you, so much has changed since you left. Mother…" Her face saddened in the memory of her mother. She hadn't brought up the subject in so long, yet it hurt just as much.

He put a hand on her shoulder. "I know. I read about the accident. But please, I know your mother wouldn't want to see you sad like this. Why don't we go for a walk."

Elli smiled weakly and nodded. She decided to push these thoughts of her mother in the back of her mind, or as back as they would let her. This should not be a time of remorse, but one of joy at seeing her father alive. She could mourn later.

Both enjoyed the walk immensely. It was refreshing to be outside, and the night was lit by a round full moon that followed Elli and her father as they walked and told each other of what had happened to them in that last several years. Elli learned that he had been promoted to first mate within a month of service. She was impressed, but not surprised as her father was both a hard worker and well mannered. Elli told of Stu, whom Owen was disappointed to learn was still in Mineral Town. "Last time I saw him, he was still a babe, bouncing and bubbly. He was a loud one, not like you Elli. It was a rare time when you cried."

"Until recently, it's been the same way."

"Until recently? Now what does this mean?" The two stopped. They had been walking at a leisurely pace, but now Owen wanted to giver his daughter his full attention.

Elli didn't know how to begin. She didn't want this light hearted time with her father to end, and she knew that if she told him too much, he would want to delve deeper into her problems and it would become a serious discussion that she would rather leave alone. "I've had relationship problems."

"Aren't you to be married soon? Did Roy not make it back to you?"

Elli looked up, startled. "How do you know Roy?"

"Tetra took over his ship," he replied. He then recounted Roy's capture and how he was set free.

"A great lad he is. You're lucky you know. He didn't care if he died, just as long as you lived."

"He _wasn't_ lying…" The realization sunk in. Her mouth dropped open and her hand unconsciously covered it. Her pondering expression soon changed, however, and instead she began sobbing into her hands, her body beginning to tighten and curl in so her spine made a smooth curve and she squatted against the ground.

Alarmed by her sudden burst of tears, Owen at first stood silent and confused. But his paternal instincts took over and he bent down and put his arms around her and asked her what had happened.

"I thought he had been cheating on me. I thought he had lied. I was upset and angry and I yelled at him and told him I never wanted to see him again. But he wasn't lying. He saved me. I am such a fool!"

Owen guided her up so they were standing again. He hushed her comfortingly. "You are not a fool, Elli." He gently pried her hands away from her face. "You can still make things right."

"Like he would take me back after all this." Elli began wiping away her tears with the back of her sleeve, but her mood was still hopeless.

"You have forgotten the power of an apology, my dear." Elli turned to him and he put his hands on her shoulders. "I know Roy loves you. If you let him go, than I would have to agree that you are a fool." He nodded toward the beach as he told her, "Now, go".

She smiled and hugged him tight. "I've forgotten how good a father you are."

"I missed out when you were growing up; it's about time I made it up." He released her and watched her run down the dirt road.

&&&

Roy removed the coat he had been wearing before he stepped off the boat to retrieve his last bag of luggage. He was surprised how warm it was, though it _was_ the middle of summer. With a great heave, he lifted up his suit case and brought it on the boat. The job had taken some time, as there was no one to help him this late at night, except the routine customers at the Blue Bar and Roy preferred to use help that was sober enough to stand. It was best this way, he thought. He was terrible at goodbyes- even in brighter circumstances- and he knew that if he left tomorrow farewells would indeed be necessary.

Roy looked out at ocean, feeling the salty air blow through the hair not covered by his baseball cap. The moon was beautiful tonight, round and full, the reflection on the water staring back at him like one large eye. After a moment, he turned back to take in the view of the valley. It was windy tonight, and he watched the grass dance with the air as though it was alive.

Perhaps, he decided, he was not quite ready to leave. He did not want to stay too much longer, at the risk of being noticed and launching the farewell ritual he so dreaded, but a quick walk along the beach did sound refreshing considering the long hours on board the ship. Besides, the man hired to sail the boat was not quite ready to leave anyways.

Roy informed the captain of where he was going, and set off contemplating what he would do when arrived home. Firstly, he would have to get rid anything that even remotely reminded him of Elli. Ah Elli. Could she possibly be thinking about him? It was late, so she was probably asleep. But maybe he was in one of her dreams. Though, judging by what occurred that day, she was probably dreaming about using his decapitated head as a volley ball. He rubbed his neck as though making sure his actual head was still attached.

Roy tried to rid his mind of Elli, but the cruelty of the way his mind works would not allow it. If only he could think of something else, perhaps he wouldn't feel so terrible; perhaps the remorse and ache would be lessened. He wanted to curse at the top of his lungs, but thought better of it. What would that do but awake the town and bring even more ill feelings towards him. He heard the distant sound of his boat's horn beckoning him back. It was time to leave.

He turned—

A loud grunt escaped his mouth.

Roy was struck down in a flurry of sand and billowy ribbons. He clenched in his fist a blue dress. Soft hands wrapped around his neck, a head of amber silk buried into him as though pleading for protection. And protection he would give. For he would wipe her tears away, hold her when she was alone, and run to her at the faintest cry. Roy realized now her feelings could be harsh- hatred even- and still he would come back to her awaiting her voice, even if it threw back at him a thousand curses.

They held each other, never to let go. Neither noticed the sand clinging to them nor the water that every so often reached out to them soaking their clothes. All that mattered to Elli was him, and to him her. As she lifted her head from his chest and brought it to his face, she could feel his warm breath comfortingly on her cheek. Roy whispered her name in her ear, his voice so familiar and missed. She refused to fight her tears any longer, and the emotion flowed out in rivers.

They kissed, softly at first, but deeper as their obvious longing for each other was realized. It lasted almost a minute, although it felt longer; time seemed to slow almost to a stop. After all, when their lips met, everything else was forgotten- the waves splashing against the rocky coast was silenced, seagulls no longer called out for their flock. They were alone, and it mattered not whether a minute passed, or an eternity as time was lost and irrelevant.

And it was not just time and the noise around them that disappeared as Roy and Elli kissed. As those beautiful moments passed, everything else was forgotten as well. The letter, Muffy, Elli's illness, the tape recording…all gone as though it had been washed away with the tide which was now receding down along the beach. He held her now, he gripped tighter around her waist, and – even as the kiss ended- his happiness could not be greater for tomorrow he would be married.

The End

A/N: I hoped someone out there enjoyed reading this story. I would like thank everyone for their reviews and also point out that it is possible that I will do an epilogue of their wedding, but don't quote me on that! I would also like to give a big thanks to my friend Maddy, who helped me write a large portion of the story. You go girl.

-LoZeldafreak


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